Earthquake

Hi, I’m back!

It was a great trip. We went to Iceland and Greenland. I took over 8,000 pictures. I have a ton of notes. The notes are a mess. I really need to get a better microphone – something that can handle bus sounds.

I have downloaded all the pictures, but haven’t started winnowing yet. I’m hoping to have my first trip post up next Monday.

But enough about that. The exciting news is that we had an earthquake.

I’ve been in minor tremors plenty of times. Frankly, this one wasn’t all that impressive since I’m so far from the epicenter. But it sure felt different. Rather than simply going about my business then suddenly feeling the shake, then going about my business as if nothing happened, this one made my hair stand on end. Maybe not literally, but certainly emotionally.

It was 5.8 on the Richter scale at the epicenter for the first wave, 4.9 for the second wave and 4.5 on the last one. The first got me out of bed and wondering mildly if I should climb out the window of my ancient, wobbly house. It wasn’t so much the motion that got me. Frankly, my husband’s restless leg syndrome is worse. It was the feeling of pressure and tension that didn’t go away. I got the feeling something much bigger was on the way.

By the second wave my son and I were both in the kitchen talking about it, and feeling a little skittish. By the third wave I had a headache. I had gotten dressed, but still hadn’t bothered to leave the house. My son’s girlfriend didn’t even bother to get up.

I stayed up much later than normal and read while waiting to see what would come next. By one in the morning the tension levels seemed to have evened off. My hair was back in place. And I was too tired to care. I crawled back into bed.

The next day, comparing notes, my husband hadn’t felt anything. My daughter thought it was her imagination. I’m wondering if it was close enough to include in my natural disaster collection.